Facial hair, rugged looks score big

11:15 PM,
Jun. 19, 2013

Written by

LaReeca Rucker
lrucker@jackson.gannett.com

For 22 years, Mississippi State University baseball players were required to have clean-shaven faces. But after Trevor Fitts, a sophomore MSU pitcher, gave a 10-minute presentation to coach John Cohen this year, explaining reasons why Cohen should lift the ban on face fuzz, things got a little hairy.

Fitts argued that having a beard would help store body heat, save time wasted shaving that could be spent practicing or preparing for games, boost confidence and intimidate the opposing team. Cohen was convinced, and now beards have reappeared - not only at MSU but across the nation.